Intermittent mechanism



L. W. SANDERSON INTERMITTENT MECHANISM Feb. 12, 1952 Filed May 5, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEE! lllll llllullrllqll L 60773127 [2271071 San Jens 011 Eek, 12, 1952 L. w. SANDERSON 2,585,6$7

INTERMITTENT MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 116011.279 was? Swamp" Patented Feb. 12, 1952 INTERMITTENT MECHANISM Leonard Watson Sanderson; Toronto, Ontario,

- Canada Application May 5, 1949, Serial No. 91,541 40laims. (01. 74-436) I My invention relates to improvements in changeable signs of the kind in which successive areas of a band are consecutively exposed toview in a framed opening for a definiteperiod.

The invention further relates to such a sign in which the band is anendless member and in which the signs or messages are printed or otherwise applied to paper or the like-attached to the band in amanner to permit'of ready removal oi the paper to enable the signsor messages to be changed from time to time bydetaching thepaper and substituting another bear-. ing different signs or messages. The primary object of my invention is. to. pro-- vide. in a changeable sign of this character a simple and. effective mechanism for intermittently operating the sign-carrying part, and to further provide a mechanism that is adapted to operate the sign-carrying part with. acontinuous motion if so required.

Another object is to I provide a convenient means of attaching the printed. paper to the band.

whereby the printed paper may be readily re moved for substitution of another bearing different signs or messages for display in the operation of the device- The motion advertising sign of the. present invention comprehends a modern way of displaying advertising matter, which forcibly attracts -atten.-, tion and is recognised to be an excellent, medium of advertising. A feature of the sign is that. mes.-

sages and/or sketches can be economically.

printed on a strip of paper and displayed.. The paper can be changed as often as. desiredin an interchangeable sign of this kind. Such asign is interesting for people to read from the street or from within, a store. It can be placed, in a shop window, showroom, and other places, such asv theentrance to. a theatre, where it. will have favorable location as an advertising medium.

A selected embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a front view of the changeablesign Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view ofthe-changeable sign.

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on line 4-1-4 of Fig. 3-. Fig. 5 is a section taken on line5-5 of Fig. 6

to-show the mechanism by which the intermittent.

band.

Fig; 7 is a detail of the driving .roller for Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of the band showing how the ends of a strip of paper are attached toit.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a side view of a driven gear which is mounted on the driving roller to operate the intermittent mechanism, and

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of this gear.

My invention comprehends a continuous band [2 of pliant leather or other flexible material mounted on a plurality of rollers. Said band is moved intermittently to bring successive predetermined areas thereof in the framed opening I3 of the supporting frame I 4. Said frame is desirably a portable case in which is housed the sign-carrying part and the operating mechanism. This case can be of any approved construction and the opening 43 may be supplied with a transparent closure, such as a pane of window glass. A door I5 is shown as disposed at the back of the case for access to the interior. On the top of the case there will be holder 16 for a display card, which does not per se form a part of the invention.

An important feature is to provide a construction inrwhich the signs intended to be exposed to view in the openin I 3 are printed on or otherwise applied to a strip of paper, and in which the strip of paper is removably attached to the band I2. The paper strip, indicated at IT, is of a length to extend completely around said band with its end I8 meeting at a transverse line,. as clearly shown in Fig. 8. The signs on the paper strip will be a series of messages and/or sketches printed or otherwise applied to the paper, each sign constituting an individual advertisement such as for instance that directing attention to goods of a merchant.

The paper strip [1 is preferably of a slightly less width than the band or belt I 2, and when the paper strip has been passed around the band or belt the ends are joined togetherby a piece of adhesive tape [9 of a suitable type. This converts the paper strip into a continuous band. Means are provided to make a positive driving connection between the paper strip I1 and the band 12 so that no slippage will occur on the part of the paper strip while it is moved with the band. A satisfactory driving connection is made of a stout piece of pasteboard 20 placed over the adhesive tape Hi to extend transversely of the paper strip H at the adjoining ends 2| thereof,

Fig. 8; The pasteboard reinforcing element'20 is" secured by aplurality of metal fasteners 22' of the paper-fastening typehaving prongs 23'. The

fasteners 22 are inserted in holes in the band l2 and the splice element I9 and are passed between the adjoining ends I8 of the paper strip. The ends of the prongs 23 are spread and it will be evident that the connection thus made effectively attaches the paper strip to the belt in a simple manner convenient for detaching it for substitution of a similar paper strip when the printed signs are to be changed. The band 12 and the applied paper strip compose the signcarrying part of the apparatus.

The rollers 24 are longitudinal members transversely arranged and preferably provided with flanges 25 at each end for restricting lateral shifting of the band l2. Said rollers are so disposed that there is a stretch or run of the band I2 at the opening [3 in order that the sign or display matter borne by the section of the paper strip extending over this stretch or run will be exposed to View. Said rollers have the usual shaft element at each end by which they are journalled in bearings, indicated at 26.

One of saidrollers, denoted at 21, is a driver for .the band and has sprocket teeth 28 at its ends. The sets of sprocket teeth 28 are engaged in continuous series of perforations 29 in the band beyond the longitudinal edges of the paper strip H. The driving roller 21 carries a loose gear 30 onits shaft element 3|. The gear is suitably constrained against endwise movement and is capable of rotating freely on the shaft element 3|.

Also mounted on the shaft element 3| is a stan wheel 32 which is secured thereon, as by a screw 33, so as to turn as a unit with the driving roller Gear 30-is in mesh with a pinion 34 carried by an electric motor 35. The motor has a cord 36 for electrical connection with a service receptacle of a building and is controlled by a switch in, the ordinaryv way. Obviously the operation of the motor serves to continuous y drive the gear 36. A wiper pin 31 is fixed on the gear 30 to project from a side thereof transversely beyond the teeth 38 of said star wheel. Said wiper, pin is adjustable circularly of the gear 3|] -so that its position can be changed to suit the signs on the sign carrying part. To provide for such adjustment the wiper pin is made of a T- shape by formingjit' with a transverse head at its innerend. This head portion is disposed in a T-slot39 and secured by a nut 40. Slot 39 is enlarged at a Doint as at ll to admit the head of the wiper pin. By slackening the nut the wiper pin can be moved around the slot to another angular setting and there secured by tightening the nut again.

Above said star. wheel a spider 42 is rotatably mounted on a bracket 43 and provided with a plurality of radial arms, three in number in the present instance, which arms are in a plane containing the star wheel and are disposed so that they successively engage teeth of the star wheel when the spider is turned. In this arrangement the gear30 carries. the wiper pin 31 around with it and duringeach turn of this gear the wiper pin engages an arm of the spider and imparts an gage .with atooth of the star wheel to turn the star wheelthrough a substantial angle. Since thestar'wheel is fastened to the driving roller J 21 the band or belt is given a definite movement and then halted before the next takes place. In this way the signs or advertisements are successively displayed to view through the framed opening l3. A click 44 engages teeth of a ratchet wheel 45 on the spider to preclude retrograde movement. The structure herein described has the advantage that two or even more wiper pins 31 may beused on the gear 30 to cause the band to be moved more frequently during a complete turn of this gear. For example in the use of two wiper pins they can be positioned diametrically opposite each other so that the sign-carrying band will be operated at regular intervals with twice the frequency as is obtained by the use of a single pin.

An advantageous feature of the operating mechanism is that it is capable of being used to drive the sign-carrying part with a continuous motion by fastening the gear 30 to the shaft element 3| and shifting the spider 42 away from the star wheel to an inoperative position. For this purpose the gear 30 may be locked to the shaft element as by a screw 46. The spider may be shifted away from the star wheel by attaching the bracket 43 to the frame l4 by means of studs 4'! passed through slots 48 in the adjacent side wall of the case and secured by nuts 49. The spider is shifted as a unit with the bracket 43 by slackening the nuts 49 and sliding the studs 41 endwise of the slots. The bracket is retained in its dispaced position by tightening these nuts.

The invention providesa practical and serviceable changeable sign apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture. Manifestly such changes and alterations may be made in the specific disclosure as fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a changeable sign apparatus having a' star wheel secured on said shaft element, a spider rotatably supported in a plane containing said star wheel and having arms spaced for successive engagement with the teeth of said star wheel, a gear journalled on said sh aft element adiacent to said star wheel, a wiper pin carried by said gear for orbital movement about said star wheel whereby to engage an arm of said spider for imparting an angular movement to said spider in a complete turn of said gear, and power-operated gearing engaged with said gear for continuously driving the same.

2. In a changeable sign apparatus having a sign-carrying band mounted on rollers, a mechanism for operating said band, said mechanism comprising a star wheel having a driving connection with one of said rollers, a spider rotatably supported and having radial arms for successive engagement withthe teeth of the star wheel, a rotary member journalled cit-axially of said star wheel injuxtaposition thereto, a wiper pin carried by said rotary member for circular movement in an orbit encompassing said star wheel whereby to engage an arm of said spider and thus impart an angular movement to said spider in a complete turn of said rotary member, means for continuously rotating said rotary member, and means rotatably supporting said spider, the last- 1 mentioned means including a bracket, a relativelyfi'xed frame, and'means attaching said bracket to said frame by means of an elongated slot connection to permit positional adjustment of said spider.

3. In a changeable sign apparatus having a. sign-carrying band mounted on rollers, a mechanism for operating said band, said mechanism comprising a star wheel having a driving connection with one of said rollers, a spider rotatably supported and having radial arms for successive engagement with the teeth of the star wheel, a bracket constituting a support for said spider, spaced parallel studs on said bracket, said studs each having shoulder-forming elements at one end and screw threads at the other end, a frame element having parallel slots in which said studs are engaged, nuts engaged with said threads of the studs and coacting with said shoulder-forming elements to fasten saidbracket on the frame element and permit it to be shifted for adjustment of said spider, a rotary member journalled co-axially of said star wheelin juxtaposition thereto, a wiper pin carried by said rotary member for circular movement in an orbit encompassing said star wheel whereby to engage an arm of said spider and thus impart an angular movement to said spider in a complete turn of said rotary member, and means for continuously rotating said rotary member.

'4. In a changeable sign apparatus having a sign-carrying band mounted on rollers, a mechanism for operating said band with an intermittent motion, said mechanism comprising a star wheel having a driving connection with one of said rollers, a spider rotatably supported and having radial arms for successive engagement with the teeth of the star wheel, a, disc-like member journalled co-axially of said star wheel in juxtaposition thereto, said disc-like member being provided with a circularly extending slot of engaged in the T portion of said slot, a nut having screw engagement with the wiper pin for securing it to said disc-like member, and means for continuously rotating said disc-like member.

LEONARD WATSON SANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

V UNITED STATES PA'I 'ENTS Number 

